Harry Potter The Calm After The Storm
by Mad About Monty
Summary: Harry Potter is out of Hogwarts and living with his best friend Ronald Weasley. Action and Adventure awaits them.
1. Default Chapter

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except of course the ones I DO own.

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A/N: Please tell me what you think of the story, please, please, please review! I would HIGHLY appreciate it! 

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Chapter 1

A nineteen year old Harry Potter lay awake on his small bed, looking up blurrily at the ceiling of his apartment that he and his best friend Ron Weasley owned. Harry picked up his glasses on the side table and read the clock next to him,

"3:05 AM. Great." he mumbled to himself. Harry stood up and walked out of his bedroom door, he heard faint snoring as he passed Ron's room, How could he sleep know what we have to do tomorrow? Harry thought humorously to himself. Ron had always been able to sleep through the roughest, and not to mention, loudest of times. "Sirius is coming tomorrow and this apartment looks like hell." Harry sighed, he bent over and picked up a pair of pants on the floor, and threw them onto the couch next to him, which had various food packages already on it. Harry eventually made his way to the kitchen, in search of a midnight - well, 3:05 AM snack. He examined the pictures that hung on the refrigerator door. A picture of Ron, Hermione, and Harry on the last day of their 7th year at Harry's old school, Hogwarts. Harry stared at the smiling Hermione and took a sharp breath in, he wrenched open the door and grabbed a jug of milk. Turning around to a cupboard behind him, Harry realized tears were silently falling down his face. "Stop it. Don't be such a baby." he told himself firmly,

"Harry - are you talking to yourself?" Harry whipped around, Ron was standing in the kitchen doorway rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Now extremely embarrassed, Harry turned back around and paid very close attention to pouring the milk into his cup.

"What are you doing up so late?" Harry asked, changing the subject,

"I should ask you the same. I had to take a leak and I heard someone in the kitchen, so I came over here. What about you?"

"Couldn't sleep." Harry replied dully.

"Again? Why don't you just let me make you a sleeping potion? You know, I did learn something after seven years down in that dungeon with Snape."

"No. I'm fine. Look, I need to finish cleaning up this apartment before Sirius comes tomorrow. So why don't you go back to bed. I'll see you tomorrow." Harry said impatiently. For the past year, Harry hadn't gotten proper sleep since…it happened.

"Do you want any help?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Harry, is it Hermione again?" Ron asked quietly,

"No. I just couldn't sleep! Just go back to bed or something." Harry threw the cup into the sink and hurried past Ron into the living room. He kept his back towards Ron, pretending to pick things up, until he heard a faint closing of a door. Harry collapsed onto the couch and began to cry. He couldn't hold it in any longer. Events flashed before his eyes, people screaming, things burning, and Hermione, laying motionless on the ground, him, Harry, running towards her, praying she was just stunned. He fell to the ground, he picked her up, feeling her ice cold body against his, shaking her praying she would wake up. "PLEASE! Hermione! Please wake up! Please!"

Harry tore himself away from the memory, and returned to cleaning, blowing his nose on someone's t-shirt. Absentmindedly he put random things away, including a set of keys, a wand and an old pair of women's underwear that was wedged between the cushions. Ron was always throwing parties, and things (most of the time embarrassing) were always being left over at the apartment.

"FUCK!" Harry yelled as he stubbed his toe on a females hair brush. Harry picked it up and examined it. He recognized it as Lavenders. Must have left it over here after another one of her shags with Ron, Harry thought to himself. Realizing what he said he threw the brush back down in disgust. Ron had become quite the ladies man back in his 6th year. After a bizarre one night stand with Pravati Patil, she decided to tell all of the girls how large his unit was, and to what Harry had heard, deserved its own zip code. Ever since then, Ron's been the talk of the women's network. Of course Harry wasn't exactly inactive either. He thought about that time in the 5th year, when him and Ginny Weasley met in the broom closet and, well, let's just say Ron wasn't too pleased when he found out.

Harry shook his head, remembering that year. He dated Ginny for nearly 6 months, while Ron and Hermione dated. Well, if you consider fighting every night, dating. Harry laughed out loud. That relationship was a joke.

Looking around at his now clean apartment, Harry smiled to himself. Looking at the clock on the wall, he sighed,

"Pointless to go to sleep now, Sirius is going to be here in two hours." Harry headed towards the bathroom, he decided to take a shower considering he smelled awful and looked it too. As he undressed and waited for the water to warm up, Harry gazed into the mirror. He had changed a considerable amount in the past two years. He now reached a height of 6'1 and his body had become more chiseled and muscular. Despite the changes, his hair was still jet black and messy and his eyes (which currently had black rings underneath them) were still a stunning shade of green. Testing the water, Harry ran a hand underneath the faucet, it was still ice cold.

"Damn thing. This apartment is so shitty. We'd be better off in the streets." he grumbled, "This is ridiculous." Harry walked to his bedroom, and snatched his wand up from the bedside table. Returning to the bathroom, he flicked his wand and muttered "_Calefacto._" Instantly the water heated. Setting down his wand, he removed his glasses and boxers. Flicking the shower on he stepped in and let the water run over his body for a considerable amount of time.

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	2. Chapter 2

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except of course the ones I DO own. No profit is being made on this story!

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A/N: I AM **SO** SORRY! I feel terrible about leaving you all hanging there! But here is the next chapter! Review!

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Chapter 2

Harry stood over the kitchen stove stirring the scrambled eggs he was cooking for Ron and Sirius. As the eggs popped and hissed, Harry took a swig from the milk carton.

"Fini!" Harry put on his best Italian voice, "Today's' special iz ze delicious eggs from a chicken sautéed in a creamy milk of a cow and just a pinch of cheese, mixed together in a magnificent blend of taste!"

"Bravo!" Harry spun around to find a very amused Sirius clapping, "I guess it will do. Now hurry and fetch me some coffee!"

"Sirius!" Harry laughed, and embraced his godfather in a tight hug. "How are you?"

"I'm doing good. Although I am hungry." he added, eyeing the eggs. 

"Oh! Here." Harry sat a plate down on the kitchen table, "Want some coffee?"

"That'd be great. Black, please." Harry set down the cup of coffee next to Sirius as he sipped on his, "Where's Ron?" Sirius asked. Harry checked his watch, "He'll be here in about, 5, 4, 3, 2, and…"

"I smell food!" came a familiar voice from the hallway, "What'd you make today Harry?" Ron's head popped in the doorway to the kitchen, it took him a minute to realize Sirius was sitting right in front of him, "Sirius!" he exclaimed and also gave him a hug. "When did you get here?"

"Just about 5 minutes ago, you missed Harry's show." Sirius laughed,

"You mean the French cook? I see it every morning. Unfortunately." Harry slapped Ron on the back of his head,

"How dare you insult me! I slave over zis delicious meal for you and all I get iz insults and no gratitude! Well see if I cook for you again you ungrateful English pig-dog! I spit on you!" Ron shook his head, as Sirius howled with laughter,

"You're just like your father, Harry." a short silence followed, Sirius cleared his throat, "So, anything new at the Ministry?" Ron took a sip of his coffee and updated Sirius, 

"Well, about 2 nights ago, there was another attack. We were sent to the scene with Seamus, and Cho. We found one survivor. It was a little girl, about 7 years old. She was hiding in a secret closet of some sort. We only found her because Cho personally knew the family. It took nearly 2 hours to convince the little weren't going to hurt her. She was taken to St. Mungo's and questioned there, they are going to send her to her grandmothers house. Do you remember Agent Jarold Bode, he was one of the Unspeakables?"

"Oh yea, I met him once, all I got out of him was a "Hello" and a nod. He retired a few years back, right?"

"Yea, well it turns out he's the grandfather of the little girl. His son, George Bode, was also an Unspeakable."

"I bet their family reunions were a blast." said Sirius sarcastically.

"Yea. We think that George might have known something important about Voldemort - or he might have been a spy. Hopefully the little girl liked to listen to her parents' conversations - if there were any. We should be getting an owl sometime soon."

"Speaking of that. Why aren't you two at work?" Sirius eyed the two boys suspiciously.

"We have off today - tomorrow we are going to be training some new kids who want to be Aurors. I plan on whooping their asses - exactly how it happened to us!" Harry laughed,

"You mean the way Cho whooped your ass." Ron commented,

"Hey! I just didn't want to hurt her because she was a girl!"

"Sure ya didn't." Ron and Sirius laughed. Harry scowled and sipped his coffee.

Light chatter and jokes filled up the rest of the morning until a tawny owl came soaring in through the open kitchen window, and dropped a small piece of parchment on the table before taking off. Harry picked up and unfolded the note, it was very short and quickly scrawled.

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"Harry and Ron -

I need for you to meet me at my place. Important information. Come as soon as you can.

Love,

Cho."

Harry read the note aloud. Ron looked confused for a minute,

"Well. I guess we better get going!" he exclaimed, still in his pajamas, Ron disapparated to Chos home. Harry and Sirius already being dressed, followed suit. Harry appaparated into Chos large living room, to find Ron and Cho in a very compromising position, which included a lot of grasping.

"Oh what a lovely sight to walk in on so early in the morning." Harry launched a pillow at the two, in hopes of seriously injuring one of them. No such luck.

"CHO! RON! PLEASE!" Sirius hollered,

"Sorry! Sorry!" Cho laughed, wiping the spit off her face, "I'm glad you're here, I have some news to tell you. Hey Sirius! How are ya?" Cho added, hugging Sirius and giving him a quick squeeze.

"Whoa! Well - much better now!"

"SO! What did you have to tell us." Harry said annoyed.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except of course the ones I DO own. No profit is being made on this story!

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A/N: Thanks a million for the reviews guys! Mucho appreciated!

Cho had developed from the sweet, innocent Asian girl in her Hogwarts years, to a bar-hopping, sex crazed, partying chick. She wore very tight and barley there clothing that always annoyed Hermione at Auror Training, 'Well, if she plans on having sex right now, at least her clothes would be easy to tear off.' Hermione scoffed. 

"Sorry, Harry. Did you want a hug?" Cho said, slinking her way towards him.

"Actually, not right now. I want to know what was so urgent." he replied, sitting on the posh leather couch.

"Right! First, do any of you want a drink?" they all declined and took seats around Chos living room.

"So, what's the news?" Sirius asked,

"Well, you remember the little girl we took in a couple of nights ago? Julie Bode?" she directed the question to Ron and Harry, who nodded in response.

"Since she knows me, I questioned her and found some things out. Turns out her father WAS a spy for Voldemort. He was found out and killed."

"Well, that seems simply enough." Sirius said,

"True, but it's not." Ron replied,

"How so?"

"Well, last night we went to the house to check out and see if we find any clues or things left behind. It looked as though it had been searched pretty thoroughly." explained Harry.

"Well, that does mean something."

"Yea, Julie told me she heard 'A bad man', who I am guessing is Voldemort, tell all of the people to find whatever it was or he would 'chop them up into tiny pieces and then kill them'." Cho said rolling her eyes.

"Did they find whatever they were looking for?"

"I'm sure they did. But, we can't always be too sure. Dumbledore wants us to go there tonight and take a closer look around the house. We have to bring Julie, Dumbledore believes there might be more hidden passageways and what not. I already know of two. Maybe Julie knows some others."

"What time does Dumbledore want us there at?" Harry asked

"Eight PM. She wants Neville to come as well." Cho replied. Sirius, Harry, Ron, and Cho all discussed possible things Voldemort wanted or were important to him. At 1 o'clock the group, with the exception of Cho who had to "clean some things", appaparated back to Harry and Rons.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm starving!" Sirius said patting his stomach. Ron and Harry nodded their heads in agreement, "Let's go to that new little store your friend Neville runs. I haven't been there yet."

"It's really good. We should probably update him anyway. " Harry replied,

"What department does he work in?" Sirius asked,

"Magical Law Enforcement Squad. His restaurant is his part time job. Sort of like a hobby. What are you doing Ron!?"

"I'll be out in a minute. I have to change." Ron replied from his room. He went to Chos without bothering to change.

"Yes, please do. I highly doubt people would appreciate you walking around in your nickers." Sirius began laughing, only to be stopped by his mouth being glued shut by a hex from Ron.

"Plenty of people would." Ron made his way towards Sirius, who, from the way his eyes were crinkling, was smiling. Ron removed the hex and appaparated before Sirius could curse him.

"Sneaky little bastard." Then Sirius too appaparated. Harry shortly followed.

Harry found himself standing next to a short balding man who looked rather pissed at the close shave Harry made,

"Kids these days have no respect. None at all." he mumbled and stalked away. Harry quickly gave flashed his middle finger at the fat wizards retreating back, "Asshole." Harry breathed to himself. 

"Hey Harry, who were you flicking off?" Ron asked walking up to him,

"You saw that?"

"Me and the whole restaurant." Harry looked around at the glaring faces. Well, all but two. Sirius and Neville had very amused faces on.

"Way to be discreet eh, Harry?" Nevilles deep voice boomed. It still surprised Harry at how much Neville changed from his Hogwarts years. It seemed like everyone changed except for Harry. Neville now sported a very lean cut, muscular body. He was very handsome and grew a good 2 feet. "So how's it goin mates? Let me get you a table!" and apart from all of the physical changes, Neville was now more self assured and confident in himself. Neville sat them down at a large comfortable booth, and he took a seat next to them. "And to what do I deserve this honor? Joe!" A young boy of about 16 rushed over, "Get us a round of butterbeers and a Killigans for Sirius here." the boy nodded and rushed off again, "Sorry guys, I would get you one, but if knew I was serving alcohol to people underage, they'd have my business AND my ass. Sucks that muggle rules apply to the us. Anyhoo, what's the news." Just as Harry was about to tell him, he cut him off again, "JASON! - Sorry Harry, just a second. - I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU! DO **NOT **HOLD THE PLATES WITH ONLY FOUR FINGERS! YOU'LL DROP THEM, JUST LIKE YOU DID NOW! Hold on, I'll be right back." Harry turned around to the others with a confused look on his face.

"It's such a change from the quite Neville I used to know."

"I guess he's making up for all of his lost years." Ron replied,

"Wish it wasn't all in one sentence."

"I'm glad he's finally happy. Is he still dating that muggle chick?" Sirius asked,

"Yep, I think her name is Hannah." Neville came back and slumped into the chair,

"No matter how many times I have to tell them. God dammit. I should just do it my self. Anyway, what's the news Harry?"

"Dumbledore wants us to meet him at the little girls house that was attacked 2 nghts ago at Eight PM tonight." Harry replied quickly, so there would be no room for interruptions.

"Okay great. Ah! Here's our drinks! Thank you Joe!" They talked for a while and ate their food until it was time for them to leave,

"How much do we owe you Neville?" Ron asked reaching into his pockets,

"Oh no, no, no!" Neville made a waving motion, "I own the place, it's on me."

"Alrighty, if you say so. So we'll see you tonight at eight! Thanks for lunch. Bye Neville." Ron replied,

"We'll see you tonight. Goodbye, Neville." Sirius shook his hand and followed Ron back to the apartment. Harry then turned to Neville,

"See ya tonight." he then appaparated back to the apartment.


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